Sucker-rod coupling



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L'To all whom tm/,3] con/cern :Beit known. that I; RneiNALn EC; ak

`citizen of "the-v United States, residing vat MeXia, inthe county 'offLii-nestone andbtate of Texas, havev invented lcertain* newfand vuseful A'Improvements 'in Sucker-Rod' Cou-5 plings,of .whichiithe following specifi- Y* cation,` reij'erence ibeingf had to the. accom- 'panylngdr'awings This inventionlrelate's to improvementsin Vg devices' forthe sucker-rods of -oil Couplin wells.b

An important object of the'iinvention is g n l member 14 by means of whichthe upper end Vto provide a device of this character which will 'permit ready rotation of' the `.lower end ofthe sucker rod and'whicl'lI provides means for cushioning.v the movement :of f the sucker.

rod during the change-of direction from up nto dwn'strokes. l Y A further object of the invention 'is' to providea device of thislcharacter' which .will

permit relative rotation: ofthe connected sections of the'suckerirod in one direction but which lie'ifectually yprevents relative rota-v thereof in the kopposite direction; The purpose of this feature of the invention is to `prevent unscrewingoffthe sections of the sucker rodI 'duet tothe natui'fal rotationtheread l operator of the well whenthe same is defV K v "i members'or supports y19,'these supports being Voff during operation and at the same time to l v Y Y, p

cylinder 10 and lia-,ving threaded engagement Vprovide for rotation of the sucker' rod by the sired'.' f Y Y t Y "Aestill jfurtherobject 0f the invention is to provide a device of this character-'which may-be readily applied toV the presen-ty construction of-sucker' rods employed-in oil structure thereof. 1 Y A An additional object kofthefinventio-nis to provide a] device of thisA character rwhich fis simple in its construction'and operation, durable in service, `and-a`general improvementin the art.` z i n l "Y f` These' andlotherobjects If accomplish "by 'the constructionand varrangement shown in the accompanying kdrawings wherein vfor'y the purpose off-illustration is'ishown'a preferred embodiment Y of my invention andV wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout. p Y

LIn the drawings: .c i

Figure 1 is afvertical sectionalY view taken through a sucker rod coupling constructed in accordance with my invention; and

wells without in n any" manner` altering the A VFigure 2 is a similar view showing thep'o'#l c Sji'tionL assumed l pling jduring .al down stroke(V P'FHT OFFICE? by; the eu-,ions er he @nf Referringfnow more particularly lthe 'y drawingsfthe. numeral 10. indicates a cylin'-1 c der ofthe samejorfslightly larger diameter@ thanfthefusual diameter vof the sucker rod.

V'The rborefll of the cylinder is restrictedrpat A* thelowerf'end, as indicated at 12, to form an f y upwardly directed'shoulderl13;i The cyliny der is Zprovided with internal screw-threads Ythroughout`A substantially its entire length andl engaged with these rrscrew threads at theupper ofthecylinder is a coupling Y ofthe cylinder' may be connectedv tothe ably directedn through the Arestricted bore 12 yat thelowfer end of thecylinder and jpr0-y 7e lower end of the'sucker-rodsection 15. Slidy shaftto the fupperend of a second sucker rod fsectiom'indicated 4at18. The coupling members 14CV and". 17 be of any desired construction and lthe `coupling member- 17,

for apurpose hereinafter rendered' obvious,

has its upper face spaced from the lower-,j

face o-f'the'cylinderlO. e

Mounted in' spaced relation within ythe with the walls thereof, are annular stop in spaced relation and the lowermost supn port 19Vbeingy in similarlyspaced relation to the shoulder 13 yformed by the restriction of the borel of thecylinder 10. Secured .to

ing y anti-friction' balls .-23 disposed therebetween.`` Upon the 'upperjsurface jof each `of the anti-friction bearings 21 rests la compression spring'Ql of a desired flength'and,

a bumper member 25'.` Thesebumper mem- 24 and loosely surroundthe shaft 16. `The `bers are/of less heightythan the `springs c "i bumpersmay be formedrofany desired mav terial but are preferably *formed of rela-y y'tivelystiii' rubber which will, whilecyielding slightly, form a positiveflimit for the movei ment ofthe shaft; as hereinafter more `fully set forth. Upon the upper surface of each of the nuts 2O are disposed springs 26 similarto the springs 211, and bumper members 27 similar to the bumper members 25.

'The upper end of the shaft 16 is squared, as indicated at 28, and vis slidably directed through a ratchet disk 29 disposed between the uppermost support 19 and a collar 30 secured within the cylinder above and in spaced relation to the uppermost support 19..` The dislr29 is provided upon its upper vsurface with ratchet teethwhich coact withv pawls 31 carried by the colla-r 30. :The shaft 16, and' more particularly the squared portio1i'28 thereof, .is rotatable in theco'llar l30 and the uppermost support 19, but .rotation of the shaft in a clockwise direction with re` lation to the collar and support is prevented `by the ratchet and pawl engagement of the disk and collar, thus preventing,unscrewing of the sections of theshaft, since it is neces- .sary' thatthe shaft be turned in a clockwise direction to, unscrew a right hand threaded yengagement if -therotation be imparted lfrom the lower end. p a

In the operation of my device, Vwhen the device is stationary the weight of the lower sections ofthe sucker rod'compresses the `'springs' 24e until thenuts 2.0.of the'shaft 16 come in tov engagement with the bumper membersf. Since these bumper members and spring rest upon the antilfriction bearings 21,'tlie1 weight of theV lower end of the sucker rod is supportedl on the anti-friction bearings and accordingly may rotate freely.

Kben the rod is moved. in a down stroke,

the. inertia of the lower end of the rod will cause the shaft 16 to move upwardly within the cylinder bringing the springs 26 into engagement with -the supports 19 where they are compressed until the movement is limited by the bumper members 277. l/Vhen the direction of movement is reversed, 'the springs 24 take the shock until relieved by the bumper members 25. If itis desired for any reason to rotate the sucker rod, this may be accomplishedby placing a wrench upon the upper end of the sucker rod and rotating vthe entire suckerrrod. It will likewise be obvious that byapplication of thewrench at the upper end ofthe sucker-,rod or above thel coupling member, the sucker rod may be disjointed, since rotation in' a Vclockwise direction from above willdisconnectf the sections regardless of the ratchet provided.

A single couplingsuch as described will ordinarily do in a well of average depth, though more may be supplied if it is desired.

i verydeep Wells,hsay for example 3000Vr y foot Wells, the use of a plurality of connectionsis desirable since it eliminates the necessity ofy employing alarge cylinder and heavy springs and bumpers.

From the foreging it is believed to be obvvious' that a sucker rod couplingconstructed in accordance with my invention is particularly well' adapted for the purpose for which it isintended for the reason that it lprevents jarring of the machinery during change of motion of the .sucker rod and at the sa'me'timeprevents accidental unjointing of the Vsucker rod by Vthe natural rotation fcent ends of a'sucker rod string, a shaft havingfits end extending into the `opposite end of the' cylinder and adapted for engagement with the other of the adjacentends' of the string, spaced supports disposed within said cylinder, nuts carried by said shaftjinter-k mediate each p air Vof spaced supports, springs extending intermediate said nuts and the adjacent supports, and abutmentv members limiting the compression of lsaid springs.during movement vof the shaft within the cylinder. n f i Y Y' 2. In a sucker rod coupling, 'adapted for engagement with onerof adjacent ends of a sucker rod string,asha ft having its endextending into the oppositeend of the cylinder and adapted for .engagement with the other of the adjacent endsof the string, spaced supports disposed within said cylinder,nutsfcarried by said shaft intermediate each pair of spaced supports, springs extending intermediate said nuts and the adjacent supports, abutment members limiting the compression of -said springs during movement of the shaftwithin the cylinder, and an anti-,friction bearing disposed upon the upper surface of each ofsaid supports andjsupporting the, Weightjof the shaft at-y tached portion ofthe stringwhen the string is elevated. i Q f l y In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature. s

, REGINALD E. COX.

I a cylinder. 

